Frequently Asked Questions

V3 is a major upgrade: native RustDesk integration for multi-user remote desktop, MouseMux-compatible Chrome and Firefox builds for true multi-seat browsing, built-in collaborative apps (Multi Paint, Whiteboard, SoundBoard, Team Vote, Screen Matrix and more), simultaneous macro playback over multiple users, on-screen annotation for every user, extensive cursor theming, and a redesigned interface. See the manual for the full picture.

Yes. V2 remains available for backward compatibility and keeps receiving maintenance fixes. You can find the V2 downloads and documentation on the V2 page. For new installations we recommend V3.

Nothing special. Just plug in some spare mice, pens, tablets or touchscreens and/or keyboards. MouseMux will detect the newly plugged in devices and automatically add them. Generally what people do is buy a USB hub and use that to plug in more mice and keyboards. Theoretically you can add unlimited devices, we tested up to 32 simultaneous users (64 input devices).

MouseMux supports Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11, including all Server editions, and we even include support for Windows XP. The program comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and will automatically select the appropriate architecture.

These are the interaction modes that decide how multiple cursors share Windows.

Switched (the default) gives every user their own cursor. Everyone can move, drag windows and type at the same time, but active clicking is 'switched': while one user holds a mouse button down, the others are briefly blocked from clicking. That is where the name comes from, control switches from one person to the next. It keeps things stable and predictable, which is why it is the safest mode for most setups.

Multiplex is the advanced mode. It extends switched with full concurrency: once a user clicks into a program they own it, and several users can click, drag and type in their own windows at the same time. Works with most programs but not all.

Native is plain Windows behavior, a single shared cursor with no multi-user routing.

Multi keyboard is an option you can turn on alongside either Switched or Multiplex. It enables multiple keyboards to interact at the same time: each keyboard is routed to the window its user clicked in, so several people can type into different windows simultaneously. See the Interaction Modes section in the manual for the full comparison.

MouseMux Apps are custom applications that run inside MouseMux, built around independent users on one PC - and you can run several at once. What differs is how people share each app. Some are used isolated: a user is locked to their own app or window and it stays private to them. Our multi-seat browsers (customized Chrome and Firefox) work this way, so several people browse side by side in fully separate sessions. Others are collaborative: everyone clicks, drags and types in the same app at the same time, with no switching - like Multi Paint, Whiteboard, SoundBoard, Team Vote and Screen Matrix. You can mix both freely. The library keeps growing, and every app is included on every edition. See the Apps section in the manual.

Honesty first: MouseMux is powerful, but it is not magic. It is not a case of 'click one button and every program becomes multi-user', and how well it works depends on the programs you use and how you use them. A few things to know: in the default Switched mode only one person clicks at a time (the others can still move, drag and type); true simultaneous clicking needs the advanced Multiplex mode, which works with many programs but not all. Games are hit and miss: some work, many do not. Some features, like the capture device that certain laptop trackpads need, are only in the higher tiers. And it is Windows only. The best way to be sure is to test the free version on your own PC, apps and use case before buying. See how the modes work for the full picture.

This is common on laptops. Most laptop trackpads are 'high precision' touchpads that inject their input straight into the Windows input subsystem instead of reporting as a normal mouse, so MouseMux does not see them as a regular device. The fix is to enable the capture device, which catches that injected input and routes it to its own cursor. Once enabled your trackpad works as normal again. See Enabling the capture device in the manual for step-by-step instructions.

Yes! MouseMux will route each device to a 'user', so your pen is a 'user', your touch screen and your mouse are other 'users'. Touching your screen will just move the 'touch screen user' while your mouse will move a different user/cursor. Screen real estate is much easier to manage! You can even blank a cursor to completely remove any visual effects that may be annoying during touch.

When MouseMux starts it will try to minimize required CPU resources to play nice with your system but this may also result in laggy cursors. To fix this you can enable 'High priority threading' in the settings dialog, and try moving the 'Main loop speed' all the way to the left. For multiplex mode there is also a 'high priority multiplexing' option. You may also want to try disabling 'Hardware motion' in the output tab, and enable buffered input and coalescing for high DPI devices.

For the smoothest possible cursors, MouseMux also offers GPU rendered cursors (available on the Ultra edition), which draw every cursor on your graphics card and are a lot faster and crisper than software rendering.

Try enabling 'Force hardware dragging' in the output tab of the user. This will force MouseMux to use hardware dragging and will fix a number of issues with dragging, painting, etc. You can additionally enable 'Force hardware motion' to force any motion through the hardware layer.

Occasionally a virus scanner will flag MouseMux as unsafe. Under the hood MouseMux has lots of complex behavior and emulates part of the input layer of Windows, some virus scanners will find that behavior suspect and will raise the alarm. We're in continuous contact with manufacturers of security tools to keep MouseMux white-listed. Please drop us a line if your virus scanner flags MouseMux as suspect.

The Logitech unifying receiver acts as a generic USB HID device and as such MouseMux will work fine and detect both mouse and keyboard input. It will however not be able to separate between devices during saving and loading because the receiver (re)creates device IDs, so settings for each mouse may get lost.

Keyboard pairing links a keyboard to a mouse; together they represent a virtual user. Pairing is simple: move a mouse and hit a key on the keyboard you want to pair. If you have two mice but one keyboard, you can synchronize the keyboard to all users so it works like normal Windows, following the window with focus. If you have two keyboards and two mice, keep Multi Keyboard checked and pair each keyboard to an individual mouse for fully independent operation.

Yes! MouseMux can convert any source device type to any target device type. It reads an input device and builds a generic input event. Inside MouseMux these events can be manipulated (adding pressure or rotation data, inverting an axis, translating coordinates) and then outputted as any device type. You can mimic pen behavior with a mouse, use your pen as a touch device, or even use two mice to simulate multi-touch interactions.

Yes. V3 has native RustDesk support: remote users connect and instantly get their own cursor on your desktop. TeamViewer and AnyDesk are supported for one extra remote user via the capture device, which captures the injected mouse input and turns the remote user into a separate MouseMux user/cursor. The cursors are rendered in such a way that remote desktop programs show them on the remote screen too. See Remote Desktop Support in the manual for setup steps.

Yes. MouseMux has a 'capture device' which will capture mouse input injected by most auto-clicker/macro/robo-clicker programs, so the clicker will control a separate MouseMux user/cursor. You can try out this functionality in trial mode to see how it works. See Auto-clickers & Macro Programs in the manual for further explanation.

No! All V2 users are automatically upgraded to V3 for free. Your existing license key keeps working; just download V3 and install it. V3 is a new version with its own configuration, so you set up your users and settings again.

Your license includes one year of free updates. MouseMux is actively developed and the program is regularly updated. After the first year, you can optionally renew for continued updates at a discounted rate.

Yes, we have SDKs for both Windows and Web. The SDK allows MouseMux to run in the background and perform various actions via API calls, creating virtual mouse pointers and users programmatically. Check the SDK documentation for more information.

MouseMux generates telemetry to help us understand how it behaves on various systems. All data is anonymized; no personal data is sent to our servers. No interaction data is sent: no keystrokes, no window titles, etc. We mainly gather which features are used, performance timings, and diagnostic warnings. See our full telemetry documentation for the complete list of what is collected.